Hi all,
I'm hoping you might download this fbx and give me a little feedback. It's only my 3rd Character anim ever - so you know what to expect! :D

Practice.zip (http://www.m2estudios.com/Temp/practice.zip)

You can look at it with quicktime and Kaydara's quicktime fbx plug. (http://www.kaydara.com/products/fbx_for_QuickTime/index.php)

Thanks!

Oh, and he's taking a hat off at the start - but I couldn't figure out the parenting so it's not done yet. Also, at the end there will be a sign on the back wall saying "We serve real ice cream."
Still WIP.

Triple G

06-25-2003, 05:36 AM

Wow...that looks great, man! Sure wish my 3rd character animation looked like that! Nothing really to crit, except that the hands (for both characters) get a little floaty in places and pass through the countertop. I'd love to hear this with audio...the timing looks pretty good, but it'd definitely be easier to tell if we could hear what's going on. :)

Cman

06-25-2003, 05:39 AM

Dang! I was hoping the audio would go with it... oh well. If all goes well I'll make changes and render this week.

My other attempt was crit as very floaty - so I'm really trying to nail that down.
Can you recall if there was a particular part that was bad?

Oh, and thanks for the compliment.
I've done a bit of animation these past few years, but it's all been graphic/logo type stuff...

EDIT:
The zip is updated with the audio file that I belive you need to put in it's own folder (named: DinerScene_Action_Face2.fbm) , in the same location with the fbx file.

Triple G

06-25-2003, 06:09 AM

Ok, you asked for it. :P

Well, first off I noticed that there's something weird going on with the guy's neck...seems to be bending in an odd way. Maybe your weight maps are off, or you just need to tweak a bone rotation or something.

As for the animation itself, I'd like to see most of the movements a little bit snappier. For instance, towards the beginning when he puts his head down (sighing? taking a breath? not sure...), I'd like to see his back arch like his lungs are filling up with air, hold it for a little longer, and then quickly flop down into his pose with his head on the table. Then again, I may have misinterpreted what's going on here because of the lack of audio, so take my advice with a grain of salt. Another part in particular where I think you could tighten things up is where he turns around to look at the wall behind him. Right now, he makes the turn, then immediately starts turning back to face the waitor/waitress. It looks like there's a little bit of an overshoot and then a settle, but I think you need to hold it longer. Have the initial turn happen a little quicker, then have him hold the pose for a few frames, then start back. Also, watch your arcs. On the head turn, his head moves in a pretty linear fashion. I would bob the head down a bit in the middle of the turn.

Also, I noticed when he's pointing...it would be nice to see his weight rise a bit and then settle back down after his arm has become fully extended. Right now, his left elbow remains floating above the table.

Umm....that's pretty much it, as far as I can tell. Nice work so far. Good luck with the competition. :)

Strange....I just downloaded the version with the audio file, and I can play the WAV with Quicktime, but I can't hear it in the FBX inside of Motionbuilder. If I open the FBX in Quicktime, it all works fine. So I'm guessing it's some kind of bug with audio in MB. Strange, because I've worked with audio files inside of MB before...wonder why this particular one is acting goofy. :hmm:

Cman

06-25-2003, 02:01 PM

Originally posted by Triple G
Ok, you asked for it. :P

Well, first off I noticed that there's something weird going on with the guy's neck...seems to be bending in an odd way. Maybe your weight maps are off, or you just need to tweak a bone rotation or something.

yeah, I noticed that too about 1/2 way through working on it. I think it is the weight map, I'm hoping I can clean it up after I put back into LW.

As for the animation itself, I'd like to see most of the movements a little bit snappier. For instance, towards the beginning when he puts his head down (sighing? taking a breath? not sure...), I'd like to see his back arch like his lungs are filling up with air, hold it for a little longer, and then quickly flop down into his pose with his head on the table. Then again, I may have misinterpreted what's going on here because of the lack of audio, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

Sounds like a good idea. I may have to rethink that whole pose because there's not much time. He's supposed to be thinking - like remembering.
I'll try your suggestion.

Another part in particular where I think you could tighten things up is where he turns around to look at the wall behind him. Right now, he makes the turn, then immediately starts turning back to face the waitor/waitress. It looks like there's a little bit of an overshoot and then a settle, but I think you need to hold it longer. Have the initial turn happen a little quicker, then have him hold the pose for a few frames, then start back. Also, watch your arcs. On the head turn, his head moves in a pretty linear fashion. I would bob the head down a bit in the middle of the turn.

Also, I noticed when he's pointing...it would be nice to see his weight rise a bit and then settle back down after his arm has become fully extended. Right now, his left elbow remains floating above the table.

Good suggestions. I'll try them out when I get a chance today.

Edit - yeah I really see what you're saying about his elbow! LOL It's amazing how you miss these things. I definitely see the head thing too.

I also noticed, watching it again, that the lip synch is a little off - but I don't know if it's my comp tring to keep realtime in MB, or if it's really off...

Anyway, thanks for the feedback! :thumbsup:

Triple G

06-25-2003, 06:11 PM

Originally posted by Cman
I also noticed, watching it again, that the lip synch is a little off - but I don't know if it's my comp tring to keep realtime in MB, or if it's really off...

I noticed that too, but then again, I don't exactly have the beefiest machine either when it comes to 3d (1GHz G4). Best bet would be to do a quick render out of MB to either a mov or image sequence and check it out in Premiere or something. :)

sensai2nd

06-25-2003, 06:43 PM

3rd character animation!? You're off to a great start . . .

"I also noticed, watching it again, that the lip synch is a little off - but I don't know if it's my comp tring to keep realtime in MB, or if it's really off..."

Yep, it is off a tad . . . I offset the "inpoint" of the audio about three frames and it seemed to match up great then . . .

Good stuff . . . clean this baby up and it'll be sweet!!!

Cman

06-26-2003, 12:47 AM

Thanks sensai2nd!

I changed the beginning part some because I had to delete whole sections of keys and reanimate to clean it up. :argh:

m_luscombe

06-26-2003, 01:21 AM

Sorry, Cman, I have absolutely nothing useful to add. I just have the giggles today and I love how I can move the camera around in these FBX files:

http://www.maumedia.com/lw/ahh_head.jpg

:)

Cman

06-26-2003, 01:31 AM

LOL!

I didn't need a head or feet. I wasn't being lazy, honest! :blush:
I did try to use the waiter's feet when he shifts weight, but it's not great.

The QT plugin is cool isn't it? I keep showing my coworkers all these fbx scenes in the qt viewer! :thumbsup:

Steve Warner

06-26-2003, 01:53 AM

Cman, this is awesome! So have you had a chance to import it back into LightWave for rendering?

Please keep us updated!!!

Steve

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